And so the rollercoaster of football has begun...all before the Premier League has even kicked off. Players have been abandoning England faster than the Titanic and Martin O'Neill became the first managerial casulaty.
There was also the small matter of the Championship kicking off. Ipswich have already started better than last season's debacle after coming from behind to beat Middlesbrough. I was keeping an eye on the score on my phone while at New Croft and when I saw the half time score thought that was that - perhaps they could taken even longer to get a win this season than they did last season? But they showed some spirit to fire home three times after the break to win at the Riverside, with Jon Stead scoring, who I always findly remember for his virtuoso goal against West Ham for Sheffield United in ther Premier League to win 3-0 while Bramall Lane sang 'That's why you're going down' - how cruel irony can be. They followed that up with a 3-2 extra time win at Exeter to advance in the Carling Cup. Now Roy just needs to keep them at the top end of the table and away from the dogfight they were embroiled in last season.
I was obviously quite disappointed to see Sheffield United finish opening day with a meagre point. However, a 1-1 draw at least season's play off finalists can't be seen as a bad result.
Elsewhere, the Villains kept the focus on the Premier League as Martin O'Neill stormed off. The reasons why still haven't been clarified, with most speculating it has something to do with transfer requests that he opposed being accepted. Barry left for Man City mediocrity after O'Neill blocked him the year before, and £12m with a year to go didn't seem a bad offer. Likewise if the amount being suggested that Eastlands will pay for Milner, around the £24m mark, are accurate, then that's double the figure Villa paid the year before. Other suggestions have been of Friedal and Ashley Young moving on - wikipedia proudly, albeit briefly, stated that Young 'plays as a winger or second striker for Tottenham Hotspur' though this has now been corrected to 'Aston Villa'. Could there be any truth to this? I got excited when I read 'Liverpool in talks over Young', only to sigh that is was Luke Young instead. And if Spurs sign Young, what will Bale, Modric and Krancjar think about it? I thought their days of signing miniature galacticos, regardless of how they would fit into their system, were over.
On another note, who will be the next manager to go? And how long will it take the managerial merry-go-round to get into full swing? I think Roberto Mancini will be the next to face the axe after a thumping defeat in their first home league game.
A lot has been made of O'Neill's relationship at Villa Park, and the troubles of the new 'sell to buy' policy. But a question remains, just how possible is it to make a football club a sustainable business? Abramovich has poured million into Chelsea, and with the club making annual profits that Sir Fred Goodwin would be proud of, there will be people living on the moon before they break even. Barcelona have been sweeping trophies and winning all before them for the last two years, but despite their success they can't pay the salaries of their squad. Arsenal seem to be a sound business model, but have yet to win anything for five years. Fans despise the debt-laden systems of Liverpool and Man Utd, but the vast expenditure of Chelsea, Madird and City are in no way sustainable. So what is the attraction to top businessmen? Can football be a successful club and business? It seems that was what Randy Lerner sought to accomplish at Villa, and now he may have lost his manager for it.
It seems the only way to be successful as a club is to make a loss as a business - for a fan to buy the club and accept that the owner will not be able to make an operating profit from running the football club. Teams that come up already plan for relegation - teams like Burnley and Blackpool do not spend big for fear that when they get relegated they will make a loss, so instead of signing quality players on high wages to stay in the Premier League they instead sign mediocrity on low salaries and feel doomed. It seems those who come up take a gamble - keep wages and fees low and prepare for relegation, or spend big and hope to stay up. At the higher end, this applied to European qualification, with top teams assuming Champions' League qualification to build their budget, and those below having to gamble and hope to qualify to make the money - effectively spending the cash before they have it and hoping they will. When this goes wrong, the results are clear to see, with Leeds the classic example.
Elsewhere, Fabio Capello was forced back into the tabloid firing line as he had to pick his first squad since the World Cup, and England's supposed homecoming parade against Hungary has descended into a parade of professional managers all moaning and bickering about the time of the game, from Sralex Ferguson to the never outspoken Neil Warnock. Players sought to abandon ship and disassociate themselves from the farce that the England team has become - first Brown and then Paul Robinson, while Michael Carrick showed that although injury may stop him from the immense pride of donning and England shirt, it won't keep him away from helping Man Utd to win the Community Sheild. The team is on such a high that even the captain says he would be booing them from the Wembley stands tonight.
But the big question is, who cares that Brown and Robinson won't be appearing for England? Glen Johnson is, admittedly, a liability as right back, and would sturggle to defend a sand castle from a toddler. But was Brown any better? He has played as 'utility man' for the Man Utd defence - an euphemism for someone who isn't quite good enough to fit into any one position consistantly. And what fond memories of Robinson will we have? His Croatia air kick is no doubt his defining memory, but lets also remember his other comedy blunders such as providing the assist for Russia's 2-1 win, and my favourite was during a Tottenham game when he caught a long ball and fell backwards into his own goal - unfortunately his Spurs exploits were soon eclipsed by Gomes' weekly attempts to kill Vedran Corluka. Though with Calamity James' numerous blunders, Wally Carson acting as a ramp for a Croatian backpass to send them to Euro 2008 and Green-fingers hopelessly palming the USA into the lead, it seems we have a rich and recent tradition of comically bad English goalkeepers. Hopefully Joe Hart will put an end to this.
Anyway, we'll see how good England are looking when they entertain the Hungarians tonight. At the very least we'll just have to hope the players are all up for it and hungary. It should soon be revealed why Martin O'Neill left - and what he plans to do with the Liverpool and England vacanice recently filled. And of course, come the weekend we have the resumption of the Championship, the football league, and Premier League kick off to anticipate.
(Picture - Press Association)
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